The independent music scene just witnessed a massive full circle moment down in Austin. Ten years ago Russ hit the SXSW festival as an eager performer looking to make his mark on the industry. Now the Atlanta raised powerhouse is officially back in town to deliver the massive music keynote address. Former TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson pointed out that he is joining absolute legends like Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Cash who have previously held this exact honor. Russ admitted

The recent SXSW panel focused on how streaming platforms are pushing live events. Fabrice Sergent from BANDSINTOWN moderated a panel with Abbie Riley from Spotify alongside Ali Rivera from YouTube and Jaie Loeb from Nederlander Concerts. Sergent noted that finding tour dates across music apps used to be scattered and complex just three years ago. Now these platforms reach four billion people to push ticket sales. The industry is finally connecting digital streaming directly

The recent HITMKR camp at SXSW 2026 gave independent artists a serious wake up call about the future of music distribution. The platform serves as a complete digital ecosystem that empowers creators to build custom interactive worlds for their fans. Instead of just dropping a basic streaming link the presenters showed off a virtual room where fans can literally explore an artist's creative space. One of the hosts perfectly captured the vibe of these digital rooms by stating

The music game is notoriously hard to crack but a recent industry panel dropped some major gems on how to navigate it properly. Project manager Jess Tomlins from Neon Coast moderated a heavy hitting lineup of executives. The stage featured Anthony Langone from Spotify alongside Faryal Khan Thompson from Empire and Nick Ayoub from Messina Touring Group. They gathered to talk about the real keys to career growth and why communication is absolutely everything in this wild busine

The way people will experience the energy of a concert in the future will be different and where live music is headed next was one of the top discussion at SXSW 2026. The heavy hitting lineup featured Matthew Celia from Light Sail VR and Eric Krueger from Meta. Epic Games representative Heather Fuller and MAGNOPUS innovator Solomon Rogers also joined the stage to drop some serious knowledge. They gathered to break down how virtual reality is changing the way fans connect wit

Hopefully you read our Top 5 SXSW 2026 Performance list, but we cannot only mention our Top 5. We became fans of pretty much everyone we heard, which is a testament to the talented artists who perform night after night at SXSW. So, this list will not be in any particular ranking order; instead, we are ordering it by the day and time that we caught their sets. Grace Sorenson We kicked off our SXSW days in the early afternoon with some local R&B vibes from Austin native Grace

At SXSW 2026, a conversation centered on independence in music took a more practical approach during The State of the DIY Artist panel. The session brought together Curtiss King, a Los Angeles rapper, producer and media creator, alongside BeatStars founder and CEO Abe Batshon. Rather than framing independence as a final destination, the discussion focused on what it actually takes to sustain a career without relying on traditional systems. Throughout the session, both speaker

At SXSW 2026, one of the more forward looking conversations around music and technology came through a panel titled The Future of Music Is Participatory. The session brought together 310Babii, BandLab Technologies head of communications and creator insights Dani Deahl, Billboard co chief content officer Jason Lipshutz and Hook Music founder and CEO Gaurav Sharma for a discussion about how fans, artists and platforms are reshaping the way music is created and consumed. Rather

At SXSW 2026, a standing room only crowd gathered for a panel that reflected one of the most urgent conversations shaping today’s music industry: how artificial intelligence is being built, used and monetized. The session, titled Ethical and Unethical AI in Music, brought together producer voices and tech leaders, including Kato On The Track, KXVI, BeatStars chief technology officer Michael "MJ" Jacob and Neutune chief industry and rights officer Virginie Berger. Across the

SXSW wrapped up a few weeks ago, and we are still recovering from the seemingly endless music sets across seven nights. We attended at least 20 different performances throughout the week, navigating from venue to venue with a highly calculated walking schedule. If we could have been in two places at once, we would have attended twice as many shows. In this story, we are going to break down the top five showcases we had the opportunity to attend. You will recognize some of the

SXSW has always delivered some of the most impactful music sessions, conversations and panels in the country, and its 40th anniversary felt no different. One of the first sessions we tapped into featured Vic Mensa and Olly Sholotan, and what looked like a random pairing at first turned into a focused presentation of a new visual project. The two used their time to introduce HALFRICAN , an independent film series written by Mensa and starring both him and Sholotan. They opene

Spring is around the corner and so is the 40th anniversary of the legendary SXSW Festival. The festival runs from March 12–18, and with only days remaining our team is still working to finalize a schedule that realistically captures everything we want to see. Anyone who has attended SXSW knows the festival moves at a relentless pace, with dozens of venues packed into a tight section of downtown Austin. It is the type of event where you can feel like you attended everything an

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